Rep. Martinez Fischer prods UT system to produce records

Unhappy with “sporadic” compliance with his requests for open records, Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, wrote the chairman of the University of Texas System Board of Regents Tuesday demanding a meeting with system staff members who could give him a timetable for production of documents.

Referring to records requests sent in March and May, Martinez Fischer told chairman Gene Powell that “fulfillment of these requests has been sporadic, at best. Recently, the flow of documents has ceased and it appears from y view much is missing…”

He then suggests that Powell send staff members responsible for compliance to his office so that “a reasonable production schedule” could be worked out.

There’s some irony in Martinez Fischer’s letter: the San Antonio representative is a member of the Texas House Select Committee that is currently investigating Regent Wallace Hall for his frequent demands that UT-Austin produce massive open records requests on a very short timetable — sometimes within two weeks. From Martinez Fischer’s letter, it appears the UT System is delaying its production of documents to lawmakers for up to five months.

“Timely, comprehensive and cooperative productions of do9cumetns …will be critical for my preparation as a member of the Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations and its on-going investigation of the actions of Regent Wallace Hall,” Martinez Fischer wrote.